1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to tamper evident end closure caps for containers, and more particularly to an end closure cap having a sealed dispensing spout where the cap can be manipulated to open the spout for initial use and reseal the spout for later use as well as indicating whether any tampering with the spout or closure has occurred before its initial use.
2. Description of the Related Art
Closures or end caps for containers typically are utilized to cover an open mouth on one end of a container and can be actuated to allow the contents of the container to be removed. In order to provide an indication to a consumer that the closure has been tampered with and the product within the container possibly tainted various types of tamper evident members have been utilized in conjunction with such closures.
One type of tamper evident closure provides a dispensing opening which initially is sealed and can be manipulated by a user to break the seal to obtain access to the contents within the container. An example of such a closure is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,567,995 which is assigned to the same assignee as the assignee herein. That closure includes a substantially circular end cap and complimentary cover rotatably connected to the end cap centrally and about their peripheries. The end cap includes a main part formed as a flat circular surface and a raised portion thereon connected to the flat surface by a thinned severable wall. The raised portion fits within an opening in the cover where a portion of the opening is formed as a knife edge. Upon rotation of the cover with respect to the end cap, the knife edge cuts through the severable wall to remove the raised portion from the container, thereby defining a pour opening in the flat surface of the end cap.
Some disadvantages of this type of closure are that it is designed for top dispensing only, no spout portion is provided to direct dispensing of the contents, the cover is freely rotatable with respect to the end cap in both directions, a seal is not provided between the opened aperture of the end cap and the cover and no positive indication of the position of the cover with respect to the end cap is provided.
It therefore is desirable to provide a tamper evident closure having a base end cap with a sealed integral dispensing spout and complimentary cover member where the cover member can be rotated about the end cap to break the seal and the contents within the container can be directed toward the opening and dispensed in a particular direction about the container. It also is desirable to provide such a closure where the rotation of the cover member is restricted to prevent improper positioning of the cover member as well as a positive indication of the position of the cover and a leak-proof seal between the cover member and the end cap.